Mark Cavendish was made to pay for attacking too early, finishing fourth on stage two of the Tour de France.

The Manxman was bidding for his 26th stage win on Le Tour but had to settle for fourth in the Netherlands as he looks to chase down Belgian Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins.

Cavendish, who has a property in Ongar, was pipped to the line by Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Griepel after making the first move to the line. But he sat up too early and eased off before finding himself beaten into fourth.

The 166km second stage took riders from Utrecht to Zeeland and with the highest point being just 6m above sea level, it was prime Cavendish territory.

However, the Etixx-QuickStep rider agonizingly missed out on stage win number 26 with German rival Griepel victorious.

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) finished second and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) snuck third place on the stage.